Who of you out there live in Los Angeles? I do not live there yet, but was just in L.A. for a job interview. If all goes as planned, I will be asked to return for a callback interview (the second and final one) and then find out if I get the job. If I am hired I will be moving to L.A. sometime this month or early October.

I know a few people out there and am rapidly becoming familiar with the area but since I recall a few people on this site mentioning they live there I thought I'd start up a thread.

I don't want to jinx myself out of getting hired but since I would need to start work and move very soon I am making just-in-case preparations. Just wanted to reach out and make some acquaintances and/or friends that might be willing to discuss their experience living in L.A. with a (fingers crossed) newbie! I am bound to have a few questions about the area or getting started in this new city so I would love to have the assistance of anyone kind and generous enough to humor me. I would be open to hearing about and discussing anything: good neighborhoods to check out for inexpensive and safe apartments or rooms to rent, traffic patterns, tips and advice, general lifestyle recommendations, things to watch out for (good or bad), ideas for frugal living, or just generally getting acclimated to the city and adjusting to the area.

(also -- best place to look for great airline ticket deals online?)

Much, much, much thanks and deep appreciation in advance! Anything you can tell me will be sure to make this transition that much easier.

Any place that you go has its good points and it's bad points. It really depends on where you live in Los Angeles. But in general:

GOOD: -lots of things to do -incredible choice of restaurants -cultural and artistic happening -(some) nice beaches, close to mountain and desert. Some of the beaches have dirty, polluted water though. -sunny weather most of the time

BAD: - natual disasters like earthquakes (The San Andres fault is 30 years over due for a major earthquake), drought and firestorm season. -freeways and cars everywhere. Every so often the traffic and congestion really get to me here. Gas is just below $4.00 a gallon. -annoying and unhealthy smog in summer. The fall and winter is the best time. -some obnoxious people (typically in West Hollywood) -very expensive housing even in so-so areas and rents are forever going up. Make sure you have a good paying job.

Any place that you go has its good points and it's bad points. It really depends on where you live in Los Angeles.

I'll agree with MSM on most of his points. I'll add some broad notes from having lived in LA for 20 years.

LA sees itself as a playground. A whole culture is built around a person's appearance, whether it be the appearance of one's clothing, home, car, or body. These two things pervaded a whole lot of my experience of the place.

On the good side: If you want to experience any part of film culture, LA is the place to be. Screenings, concerts, research materials, sneaking into scoring sessions: almost anything related to film and its elements can be found in tremendous quantities there, maybe more than anywhere else.

I suggest you find a place to live that is close to a bus stop or transit center that you can walk to and hop on to head to work. I lived in LA for a short 4 months some time ago and what made it mostly bearable was that I had a quick 15 minute bus ride to and from work. Commuting sucks so if you can take a bus and enjoy some reading or other activities on the bus you will be much happier overall. My place was about 5 miles west of Downtown near Venice and Western and it worked out well.

Also, make sure you find a place that is within walking distance of essentials (grocery, pharmacy, good food). If you do end up there, make sure you try some good local foods including Korean BBQ, Salvadorian food, Mexican food, and others. Also beware cheap Chinese places.

I'm only about 2 hours south of LA in San Diego and go to LA occasionally so if you do move, I would love to drop by for a visit when I am in town.

Question: In what district/city/neighborhood would your job be located? This will impact how much or what I can contribute to your discussion.

Your other thread on the other side says your job would be in "North/West Hollywood".

The area named "North Hollywood" is north of the Santa Monica Mountains. The city named "West Hollywood" is south of the Santa Monica Mountains. Very different places, so telling us whether the job is north or south of the mountains would be a help.

A few people have mentioned I was vague in describing where I work as North/West Hollywood. You're right, and I apologize for that! I was actually purposefully vague; my job interview and where I work could actually include people who might visit the FSM board and I wouldn't want to accidentally (however unlikely) give the impression that I was assuming I would get the job or something. Quite overly cautious I know, probably very silly, but I wouldn't want someone who works at my potential employer (or the employer himself) to happen upon this thread and mistake my just-in-case preparation for an assumption that I will get the job. Of course, if I get the job, I'm happy to say in what area I would work in and go into more detail. I really appreciate everyone trying to help me out in determining all aspects revolving around work, commute to work, etc. I really do. Definitely necessary stuff. It's just that things are still up in the air and I'm trying to be extra careful; this job is extremely important to me.

How long of a drive are you willing to tolerate for your daily commute?

(And I don't necessarily mean an uninterrupted buzz down an freeway. Think one that could very well have a fair portion of stop-and-go, either on the street or on the freeway.)

This will help us tell you where you might live in relation to where you work.

Great question. I guess off the top of my head I would say 45 minutes? That may be an unrealistic expectation for L.A. I guess starting out I could tolerate an hour as a concession for just getting started, until I had time to settle and find an even closer place to live in regards to work, but I wouldn't want to commute that far for long.

A few people have mentioned I was vague in describing where I work as North/West Hollywood. You're right, and I apologize for that! I was actually purposefully vague; my job interview and where I work could actually include people who might visit the FSM board and I wouldn't want to accidentally (however unlikely) give the impression that I was assuming I would get the job or something.

This multiplies the number of suggestions we could make, assuming that you are referring to the areas I named above (maybe even more so, since commute characteristics are different in the Valley vs. the Basin). I'm disinclined to attempt this since it is so very, very broad.

Maybe you could say to us what is important to you about where you live. This will enable us to make broad suggestions based on the broad N/WeHo circumstance.

Hello again, Nice to see you're on this board. In between North and West Hollywood is Hollywood proper unless you drive over one of the canyon streets like laurel (probably best) or coldwater...anyway you can check them out on your gps. My suggestion as far as apartments is to check the recommendations on websites that rate them and focus on those close to where you will be working. Ultimately you want to cut down as much as possible on driving (although it is a necessity) because of stress, traffic jams, road rage, crazy drivers on cell phones, etc.. When you check to see what others are saying about apartment blocks look closely at what they say about the landlord. A bad landlord can ruin your life like nothing else.

As for enjoyable places to hang definitely check out The Grove. It's one of if not the nicest most upscale centres absolutely world class without the pretentiousness of say Beverly Hills. I would guess you like cinema and film music so check out Amoeba in Hollywood... a virtual candy-land for those of us that like that sort of thing.

Do everything you can to reduce stress. Try and maintain a healthy life style, a daily routine or schedule and nutritious diet. Shop at Whole Foods. Try and avoid people who seem to constantly want something...you'll be able to i.d. them fairly quickly in L.A. and there are lots.

Enjoy the screenings like no other city in the world, like the yearly TCM festival and Noir City and others at the Egyptian in Hollywood, the Aero in Santa Monica.

Anyway that's it from me for now. I'll try to post more later and not repeat what others have said.